A boiler requires extremely pure water in order to avoid a plurality of different problems. Unfortunately, water coming into most boilers is not pure enough to avoid these problems. Impurities in the water, including gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, would rapidly contaminate the water and damage the boiler.
In addition, condensed steam, referred to as condensate, generated in the boiler and accompanying boiler lines, is a major source of impurities. Condensate generally traps impurities, especially gases including oxygen and carbon dioxide, from the air and becomes contaminated. The contaminated condensate inevitably reenters the pool of boiler water, thereby further contaminating the boiler water. Other problems including accumulation of scale, maintenance of pH, boiler pitting by oxygen, and the generation of carbonic acid in the water may occur as a result of contaminated boiler water. Therefore, the contaminants must be removed or treated.
Currently there are a variety of different physical and chemical treatments for contaminated boiler water. Conventional treatments have included the use of amines, particularly to scavenge oxygen and neutralize carbon dioxide. These amines are generally volatile, having boiling points comparable to elevated temperatures in the boiler, and vaporize into the steam to treat the resulting condensate.
Amines which have been used treat boiler water include octadecylamine, typically used as a filming amine, and diethylaminoethanol which has also been used to treat condensate systems. However, these amines, as well as other conventional amines commonly used as boiler water treatment agents, typically are commercially available only as liquids. In addition, the prior art boiler water treatment compositions containing amines were prepared and stored as liquids. As with most liquid amines, these compositions generally emit repugnant and potentially toxic odors which may be detected during manufacture, packaging, or shipping processes, and particularly during the use in treating boiler water. In addition, prolonged storage of liquid amines generally allows the vapor pressure to build exposing the user to serious noxious odors and unhealthy levels of vapors. Such amines and corresponding compositions, therefore, pose possible health and safety risks to the user and are likely to affect any person involved with the processing of such boiler treatment agents who may be exposed to the odors and vapors. Therefore, there exists a need to relieve the odor generated by liquid amine boiler water treatment compositions. There also remains a need to improve the formulation of the amine used to treat boiler water and to improve the ease and comfort by which the amine may be used to treat boiler water.